What Python Is Used For? 5 Industries That Use It
Python is a very popular interpreted, general-purpose, object-oriented programming language. It is high-level and dynamically typed. Furthermore, you can use it for Object-Oriented, Functional, and Procedural programming. Python’s design principle emphasizes code readability over anything.
After glancing over the characteristics of Python, one might wonder what people use Python for. And the answer to using Python might be familiar to many. Python finds its application in almost every industry there is. Hence, it would not be an overstatement to say there is no limit to what Python can do.
This blog will cover Python’s application in a few dominant industries. An idea of what industries use Python may provide an idea of its vast potential. These industries are vital to businesses and individuals alike as they are the driving force for humanity’s progress.
Python’s versatility and widespread use in various industries
Python is highly versatile by nature. The easy-to-understand syntax and a gentle learning curve benefit it tremendously. Both new and experienced developers find Python to be a great tool.
The ability to rapidly develop things from scratch is what attracts a lot of developers to Python. It is also compatible with a large number of other programming languages.
Python supports a vast ecosystem of libraries and frameworks. You can use these libraries and frameworks for scripting, developing web applications, and processing large amounts of data. Prominent examples of its application are web development, data science, ML and AI, Cyber Security, and Finance.
1. Web Development
There are tons of libraries and frameworks that cater to the web development domain today. Many programming languages offer great tools and communities for the same. The web development ecosystem is very mature for some of these languages.
So what does Python do that helps it compete with so many other web development languages? The answer lies in the inherent attributes of Python and the vast array of libraries/frameworks that it offers.
Python’s role in web development
Python is amazingly versatile and easy to use. It is suitable for both functional and Object-oriented programming. People often use Python with JavaScript in web applications.
What does Python do to help in web development? You can develop the server-side logic using Python, while JavaScript can help with the application’s front end. Python excels in rapid development as it requires less code to do more.
Popular Python web frameworks: Django, Flask, and Pyramid
There are many Python web frameworks available in the market. Many applications use Django, Flask, and Pyramid as popular frameworks.
You can use Django as a high-level web application framework for rapid application development. It is a feature-rich server-side framework. Django uses a Model-View-Template architectural pattern.
It provides a template engine that you can use to render UI components built using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. It also has an ORM that helps developers easily communicate with the database.
Django comes with an admin panel that you can use to perform administration tasks efficiently and customize as needed. You can use Django Rest Framework, which is a module in Django, to develop REST APIs. You can use it to rapidly create high-quality, scalable applications. Some notable applications developed using the Django framework include Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and Dropbox.
Flask is a lightweight Python web framework that provides valuable tools for quickly creating web applications. It is highly flexible and easier to learn compared to Django.
New developers can quickly grasp the Flask framework and be productive in no time. It is easy to configure and test. It does not force a particular directory structure as most frameworks do.
Flask comes with a Jinja template engine that you can use to create UI components for your application. Additionally, you can use Flask to create REST APIs. You can integrate it with various supporting libraries and frameworks to suit your custom needs.
Pyramid is yet another Python web application framework. Pyramid promotes itself as “the start small, finish big, stay finished framework.” It is similar to Flask in regards to minimal configuration and installation requirements.
It is possible to build single-file web applications using Pyramid. Add-ons for SQL, NoSQL databases, authentication services, etc., can extend a Pyramid application’s functionality.
2. Data Science and Analytics
Today, data is one of the most valuable resources for businesses. Thus, Data science and analytics have become very important for gaining insights into current trends and making predictions.
Data comes in various forms and needs to be cleaned and processed to get meaning out of it. Many languages can be used for this process. But Python is the most common and sought-after language for data science and analytics. There are excellent uses for Python in the Data Science and Analytics domain.
Python’s popularity in data analysis and manipulation
So what can Python do that makes it the most sought-after language in the data domain? Many factors contribute to Python’s dominance in data analysis and manipulation.
Python is easy to use, which helps developers focus on the logic instead of the syntax. It has the ability of dynamic memory allocation, making it more suitable for data science and analytics applications. It is portable, so that it can work with various systems. Python also has a vast ecosystem of libraries for this exact purpose, with a very active community.
Essential Python libraries for data science: NumPy, pandas, and matplotlib
NumPy is a Python library that is good for number crunching. It is used to work with Arrays. Python lists are slow to process, which is where NumPy comes in handy. A task executing with NumPy is almost 5 to 100 times faster than traditional Python list processing.
NumPy provides functions for help in Fourier transform, matrix operations, and linear algebra. It consumes much less memory and is convenient to use for numerical analysis.
Pandas is a Python library used to work with data sets. It is a high-performance data manipulation tool. It is built on top of matplotlib and NumPy. Thus developers can leverage the functions from both libraries when using Pandas.
Pandas provides data structures, like series and data frames, for easier data manipulation. It provides tools for in-memory objects storing different file format data. Merging and joining of data can be done faster using Pandas. It can also handle missing data, data alignment, and data aggregation. There is also support for time series functionality in Pandas.
Matplotlib is a library used to create graphs and plots by using Python. It provides cross-platform support. It is one of the most powerful data visualization libraries in Python.
Various plots like line charts, bar charts, pie charts, scatter-plot, box plots, histograms, etc, are supported by Matplotlib. The Pyplot module of Matplotlib provides a set of inbuilt functions. These functions can create figures, plot areas, and labels.
3. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Machine learning and artificial intelligence are the most trending technologies of modern times. They are used to create intelligent systems. Their application possibilities are endless. Many industries can benefit from using ML and AI in their functioning.
If there’s a question of what is Python best used for? The answer would be none other than the AI and ML industry.
Python’s significance in the ML and AI landscape
Python provides a great choice of libraries for AI and ML. The AI and ML industry processes tremendous amounts of data. Python libraries let you handle and transform data for the continuous data processing that this industry requires.
The easy-to-understand syntax helps data scientists quickly learn Python and start using it for development. The simple syntax allows developers to work pleasantly with complex systems.
Python is a prevalent language; thus, Python developers are relatively easy to find. This allows for a lowered development cost compared to development with a less popular programming language.
Python libraries and frameworks for ML and AI: TensorFlow, Keras, and Scikit-learn
TensorFlow is a popular machine learning and deep learning framework. Thus, it makes machine learning and developing neural networks more straightforward and rapid.
TensorFlow is an open-source library. It has a comprehensive and flexible ecosystem of tools and libraries. Moreover, it allows developers to build and deploy ML applications quickly.
TensorFlow is used in many Google products such as Gmail, Maps, YouTube, etc. It also has an extensive library of pre-trained models that can be used directly in any project. The transformation libraries that are available in TensorFlow are written as high-performance C++ binaries.
Keras is a deep-learning Python API. It runs on top of the machine learning platform TensorFlow. Keras has a minimal structure and high computation scalability. It runs on both CPU and GPU.
Keras allows fast calculations and prototyping. Keras helps in easy model production. It also has considerable community support that can benefit developers. Keras also offers various deployment options to cater to different user requirements.
Scikit-learn is a comprehensive library for machine learning in Python. It has a selection of efficient tools for statistical modeling. These statistical modeling include classification, clustering, regression, and dimensionality reduction. NumPy, SciPy, and Matplotlib build the foundation of it.
Almost all popular supervised learning algorithms are part of sci-kit-learn. These include Linear Regression, Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree, etc. Scikit-learn can assess supervised models’ accuracy and validity on new data samples.
4. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity undoubtedly plays an essential role in this digital age. Cyber threats are increasing at an exponential rate every year. Hence, having the right tools to mitigate these cyber risks is essential.
What is Python good for in cybersecurity implementations? What is Python used for in this domain? The language is very much relevant and helpful in this field. It has excellent libraries for this domain as well.
Python’s use in cybersecurity and ethical hacking
Easy scripting is one of the advantages of using Python. Cybersecurity professionals can quickly create scripts for minimizing or fixing the infrastructure damage in case of a cyber attack.
Python can create payloads, packet decoding, malware analysis, communicate with servers, and scan networks or ports. It can also be used as an automation tool for effortless information collection.
Python libraries for cybersecurity: Nmap, Scrapy, and Requests
Python’s Nmap or Network Mapper module helps in port scanning in networks. Users can also utilize it as an automation tool to collect information effortlessly. Furthermore, port scanning helps administrators to assess the security policies of the network they monitor. The module comes in handy for identifying external threats.
Using Nmap you can identify open and closed ports. The tool then helps in security audits and network discovery. Ethical hackers can determine network weaknesses through penetration testing with Nmap’s aid.
Scrapy is an open-source Python framework that has uses in the cybersecurity context. It can be used for extracting (scraping) data from websites. Web crawlers can be created using it. Such crawlers crawl websites and extract data from their pages. Thus, application monitoring and automated testing can be done using Scrapy. This helps in identifying vulnerabilities and potential attacks on a web application.
Requests is a standard Python library that is used to make HTTP requests. The module consists of many APIs that handle different types of HTTP requests. You can add headers and parameters to any desired request. The request returns a response object with response data such as content, status, encoding, etc.
5. Finance and Fintech
Financial institutes are one of the very early adopters of technology. The goal of Fintech is to offer its customers and stakeholders more efficient and accessible solutions.
We will cover what Python is mostly in use for in the finance and fintech industries ahead. We will also cover who uses Python in these industries to boost productivity.
Python’s applications in finance and Fintech
What is Python programming used for in fintech applications? People use Python in various applications such as risk management, fraud detection, portfolio optimization, algorithmic trading, and more. Python programming is extensively used in Fintech due to its flexibility.
Generally, financial analysts use Python for its simplicity and many specialized libraries. People also use it for data analysis and visualization of key financial metrics. Moreover, in fintech applications, developers often use Django, Flask, and FastAPI frameworks to create web services. These web services include online banking platforms, financial market analysis tools, and payment systems.
Python libraries for financial analysis and algorithmic trading: Quantlib, Zipline, and Pyfolio
QuantLib is an open-source library that provides comprehensive tools for quantitative finance. It was written in C++ but has been exported to other languages, including Python QuantLib is used for modeling, trading, and risk management. The library makes it easier to build models and lets the user focus on problem-solving instead. Zipline is an algorithmic trading Python library. People use it for backtesting and live trading. Zipline is event-driven and is used in powering Quantopian. Quantopian is a free platform for building and implementing trading approaches.
Zipline focuses on easing the algorithm development process. It also provides standard statistics like transforms and risk calculations for custom algorithm development. Each event in your application runs individually in a stream, which helps avoid look-ahead bias.
Pyfolio is a library for financial portfolio risk and performance analysis. In addition, it can integrate with the Zipline backtesting library.
Furthermore, Pyfolio generates various statistics and ratios that you can use to assess risk, trading strategy, and returns. It creates thorough plots of these stats. You can also generate annual returns, max drawdown, Sortino Ratio, etc., statistics, and plots using the library.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Python finds its application across various industries. Uses for Python are limitless. Its user-friendly syntax, extensive community support, and active development community contribute to its popularity. Its effectiveness in solving diverse industry challenges is thus justified due to its inherent properties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Python overall improves web development efficiency with its simple syntax, extensive libraries, and frameworks like Django and Flask, enabling rapid development, code readability, and easy integration with databases and APIs.
The most important factors to consider are scalability, security, performance, learning curve, and community support. The documentation, community activity, and long-term support for the framework are essential. This also ensures that the framework stays relevant and gets regular updates.
Proper validation of key entry points, secure authentication, and robust authorization practices increase the application’s security. Moreover, setting up caching mechanisms, rate-limiting APIs, optimizing database queries, and employing efficient scheduling of tasks for asynchronous processing is essential. Regular security audits, vulnerability scanning, and penetration testing help to identify and address vulnerabilities.
